It’s been about three months, so this would be a good time to update you on my goals. Like a lot of creatives at the moment, my enthusiasm has, how to put this, “shit the bed”. That said, I’ve tried to move things along, even if it’s at a snail’s pace, driven if only by the Will Rogers’ quote, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” But enough thoughtful pondering. This is 2020 week 41, with roughly 79% of the year behind us. How’s my progress?
Read 20 books in 2020: At the moment, goodreads.com tracks me at 17 books completed this year, which is a solid 85% of my goal. I’m currently in the middle of (counts fingers…) four separate books: Exit Plan by Larry Bond, The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, Eva Ibbotson’s rather timely The Dragonfly Pool, which I’m reading to my daughters, and SuperBetter by Jane McGonigal. If I complete all four of those by Dec 31, I will beat my goal for the year, the first time I’ve done so since I’ve started tracking this five(?) years ago. A lot of that progress has come from listening to audio books during my daily walks.
Write 38 Posts in 2020: This post marks my 12th for the year, putting this goal at 32% complete if I’m being generous. Maybe a creative spurt will drive this home. Or losing my job. Hopefully the former.
Get back on Schedule for Togahan #4: So yeah……about that. Sluggishly, I’ve progressed, incorporating my beta reader feedback into the story. I’ve struggled with a couple of bits, and finding the writing time has been more difficult lately for a lot of reasons. I’m almost done with that, and then I can start my final revision sweep before it goes to a copy editor. Still, according to the mega spreadsheet, I’ve slipped to 390 days behind schedule. Estimated publishing date is February….2022. Sad Face.
Record the first chapter for A Togahan’s Tale: “Tink-ta-tink-ta-tink!” —that’s the sound of this can getting kicked farther down the road. I still haven’t started this yet, mostly because I’m in the middle of too many other things, and starting a new thing right now just seems self-defeating. I need to wrap up some other stuff first.
Walk 5+ miles Every Day: Comparing my progress vs July:
| July | October | |
| Days | 188 | 280 |
| Successes | 155 | 238 |
| % Success | 82% | 85% |
| Average daily miles | 5.72 | 5.86 |
| Total miles | 1074.83 | 1639.53 |
I’ve had more successes, most likely because of the warm weather. I’ve increased my daily average as well, so this is looking pretty good. I doubt very much I’ll get the percentage much higher. Circumstances have dictated about 1-2 days out of every 10 that I can’t make it, but I’m sure my knees could use a rest too, so it’s probably good. Ok, I’m a little proud of this goal, at least. Daily exercise and Vitamin D—two things that are probably critical right now. So I’ll give myself a pat on the back for that one. Maybe two pats.
-Pete